Conscious Beauty And Beautiful Minds: Interview w/ Ginger King
Ginger King has dedicated her life to beauty at a young age. She has been in every aspect of the beauty industry from retail to cosmetic chemist, to cosmetic raw material sales, to manufacturing to marketing and product development and she now owns a consulting company specializing in clean beauty from concept to launch. She has been the breakthrough award judge for Allure Magazine since 2017 and brain trust for Beauty magazine. She has also been mentioned by over 30 beauty media and featured on TV.
What was the first beauty routine you adopted as a child or teenager? Which emotions do you connect with this memory?
Always put on a moisturizer as my mom opened the first Shiseido Boutique in Taiwan in the 60’s so I was influenced on how to take care of my skin and keeping it moisturized. When it comes to skin care, you nourish or perish.
CONSCIOUS BEAUTY — What meaning do you give this term?
Knowing intentionally what I use on my hair, skin and body by examining the ingredient list as a consumer so I only put the very best on me without hurting animals or environment. Knowing intentionally what ingredients I formulate with and what impact will it have on a larger scale such as if the raw materials are sustainable, clean and vegan and what minimal packaging I can use when I design a product.
Knowing that if the brand also has a social mission so not only I make myself beautiful, I can also help others through my purchase.
Which aspects of sustainability in beauty are especially important to you?
Ingredient sustainability is crucial. Everyone wants a natural source but harming nature for human vanity is not acceptable. I choose to formulate clean and vegan products as clean does not have to be 100% natural. Vegan means I do not use animal derived or tested ingredients in particular beeswax. You get beeswax from beehives where they live. How do you like your house to be messed up for human vanity?
When do you consciously feel beautiful?
Knowing the choice I make when I formulate or purchase a product is beyond just making myself beautiful. There is more than just the outer-beauty.
Did your approach to beauty change within the last 1–2 years?
Yes. Ever since the clean beauty movement started, I fully embrace it. I actually was criticized by my peer saying that as a cosmetic chemist, you should not advocate paraben-free as the studies are not fully scientific. My opinion is I am a consumer too and I rather be safe than sorry. Additionally, parabens are known in Asia to have the potential to sting the face so I do avoid parabens.
How would you like to see the image of beauty change within the next 5 years?
There are always two sides to a coin. For people who love clean beauty will always love it. For people do not care for clean beauty and continue to say there are no issues with some ingredients, good for them. Just do not go too extreme on either side. Do not green wash consumers if you are not authentically green and do not bad mouth clean beauty people by saying fear-mongering. Choose your lane and be respectful. Let the consumer decide because at the end if the product does not perform, they will disappear in the market place.
What or who inspires your beauty routine?
When I was a kid, it was definitely my mom as she taught me everything about Shiseido. When I was a teenager, it was definitely Mrs. Estee Lauder as I aspired to be like her. And now, ha, whatever I am formulating is my beauty routine as it is my policy that I must try all the formulations before I submit to clients so when they make comments, I will know what they are referring to. You will be surprised not all chemists try their own formulas on themselves.
What is your best beauty advice to others?
Exfoliate weekly and use sunscreens daily. Do not blindly follow beauty influencers routine because what work for them may not work for you. Your skin and hair may be different.
Is there anything you would like to share that we have not asked you here?
I get asked all the time -What Do You Use- as I am a known cosmetic chemist. The questions people should be asking is I have certain skin issues (wrinkles, discoloration, acne etc), what ingredients or product do you recommend.
I also want to plug in that I launched my brand last year-FanLoveBeauty where I create beauty products for people who inspire, educate and entertain the society as a give-back to them. My first collection of beauty products is inspired by shark tank’s Daymond John. It’s a vegan lip balm fueled with superfoods and clinical levels of sea asparagus known to boost hydration by up to 6000% over time. When people use this lip balm, they can be empowered to talk like a shark as it was built for a shark. He loves the lip balm and publicly mentioned it (video available). Now, this type of celebrity mention holds weight :). My brand also donates to suicide prevention foundation.
THANK YOU!
Follow Ginger King on Instagram.
Demee Koch about the MEDIUM interview series on CONSCIOUS BEAUTY:
Hello! I am a serial entrepreneur with more than 2 decades of experience in the health & beauty industry. This interview series is intended to create awareness about the movement of Conscious Beauty.
We are in a beautiful time of Conscious Beauty — you may have heard of this term, but what does Conscious Beauty mean, and why does it matter?
For us, beauty is a way to love — it is about self-care, art, nutrition, exercise, life, self-love. I invite you to become part of a movement that re-defines beauty. Let’s empower beautiful minds.
Thank you for being the change. I’m looking forward to learn from you. Reach out to me via LinkedIn.
Demee ❤︎
